Kansas Board of Education Recommends Vaping Bans in Schools

Approved last week, the recommendation urges schools to set in place regulations which would prohibit students and staff from using, possessing or promoting vaping and tobacco products on school campuses, in school vehicles or during school activities.

E-cig use banned “in any district facility, in school vehicles, at school-sponsored activities, programs or events, and on school owned property at all times.”

The board is also urging school districts to ban parents, volunteers, contractors and vendors from using such products “in any district facility, in school vehicles, at school-sponsored activities, programs or events, and on school owned property at all times.” The board’s chairwoman, Kathy Busch, called the policy recommendation “quite inclusive and definitive.”

“Hopefully we’ll begin to stem the tide, but obviously we haven’t reached that yet, still much work to do as our young people are unfortunately still getting into this and we wish they wouldn’t,” said Busch.

A comprehensive policy

Many school districts across Kansas and Missouri have already set in place such measures, but with this recommendation the board would like to set a comprehensive standard. “I would be surprised if there are really more than a handful of districts that have this comprehensive of a policy,” said Mark Thompson, a program consultant for the Kansas Department of Education.